Kingdom of Fenn, in the ocean about 30 km west of Nishinomiyako
The Papaldia Empire imperial armyâs dragon carriers were arranged in a perfect line. To facilitate the arrival and departure of wyvern lords, dragon carriers were twice as large as ships-of-the-line. The empire advanced their shipbuilding technology in secret, so it were the only country capable of building dragon carriers. Vice Admiral Armos nodded contentedly to himself when he surveyed the fleet of dragon carriers, their very presence giving off a sense of might.
âDragon Knight Captain!â he said to the man standing next to him.
âThe imperial army is strong!!!â
âWhy do you think we are strong?â
âBecause of our comprehensive strength, sir.â
âYouâre exactly right! However, the reason to have pride in our power, even more than our ships-of-the-line, the true core of our strength, is our dragon carriers. Dragon carriers allow us to outrange any opponent far beyond the capability of any cannon. Captain, total control of the air means total control of both sea and land. That is what I believe.â
âIndeed, sir! That is a very enlightened perspective!â
âThe Papaldia Empire is invincible on the sea because of our dragon carrier fleet! As long as we have them, the imperial army will carve a path for our empire to rule supreme! And look! Leading that fleet is our newest, most advanced flagship, the Mille! âŚHow spectacular. It overflows with functional beauty, enough to match its size.â
The Mille was built with much more antimagic steel plating than normal, and thus it was the strongest, largest, and most beautiful ship in the fleet.
Their chat was interrupted by the alarm sounding from the foremost escort ship. Vice Admiral Armos looked ahead cautiously.
â?! Whatâs that?!?â
It was very hard to see, but two large arrows painted blue were flying at the flagship Mille at an astounding speed.
âWhat⌠what speed!!!â
Those âthingsâ skated just above the ocean, sharply turned upwards right before they reached the front of the ship, and finally plunged right into the ship at a diagonal angle from above. The two Type 93 ASM-2s fired from an F-2, traveling at 1150 km/h, scored direct hits on the dragon carrier fleetâs flagship, the Mille.
There was a violent flash⌠and the Mille was engulfed in light.
Bom⌠BAAAAA-BAAAAAAM!!!
The giant flagship become wrapped in an even larger explosion, accompanied by the roaring sound of destruction. Right before Armosâs eyes, the anti-ship missiles, which individually had enough firepower to destroy a cruiser, erased the flagship Mille from existence, along with its crew and wyvern lords. The leftover noise from the blast echoed across the water.
âWha⌠wha⌠what the hell?! What just happened?!â
Distress ensued.\nâNumerous flying objects are incoming!!!â
The fleet broke formation, each ship starting to move on its own without orders.
Another flash⌠and another roarâŚ
âThe Fissennuss has been lost!!!â
The Papaldia Empireâs cutting-edge 100-gun ship-of-the-line Fissennuss, sporting the most advanced antimagic steel plating, was the pride of the empire, and it disintegrated into dust after a single attack. Flashes and roars erupted one after another.
âDragon carrier Ganam, lost!!! Dragon carrier Masale, lost!!!â
Tragic reports kept coming in as the mysterious objects kept, without missing even once, blowing up dragon carriers.
âThis⌠this is impossible! The empireâs peerless dragon carrier fleet was, in such a⌠impossible!!!â
Vice Admiral Armos worked his brain at full capacity, trying desperately to identify anything in his life experience that could explain what was going on. Nothing from any of his battles was able to help him make sense of what he saw before his eyes.
âCould⌠could it beâŚ? Are these the ancient sorcerersâ magic bombs of light?!â
âOneâs coming for our ship!!!â the lookout shrieked.
The crew screamed. The vice admiralâs flash of insight never went anywhere.
The Japan Air Self-Defense Forceâs F-2s and their barrage of anti-ship missiles sank all twenty ships in the Papaldia Empireâs dragon carrier fleet and its gunboat escorts.
The majority of Papaldiaâs great fleet was stationed offshore of the Kingdom of Fennâs town of Nishinomiyako. On the deck of the flagship, the Papaldia Empireâs 120-gun super-F class ship-of-the-line Pall (âsuper-Fâ meaning âsuper-Fissennuss,â in the way that a battleship higher than a dreadnought is called a âsuper-dreadnoughtâ), General Cius of the imperial army was looking out to the west. Because this planet was larger than Earth, the horizon was much further away.
Cius simply looked, unmoving. His forehead was drenched in sweat. The sound of numerous explosions had come from that direction. After the sounds stopped, the army could not contact any of the twenty ships in the dragon carrier fleet or its escort. None of their magical communicators were responsive and, unbelievably enough, even their magical signatures had completely disappeared. For twenty ships from their unrivaled fleet to be lost in such an insanely short period of time, without even being able to contact command, Cius couldnât even imagine what could have happened. The rest of the fleet was already on alert, and four gunboats were sent to their last known location to investigate.
(What if the dragon carrier fleet was wiped outâŚ)
Cius immediately thought of the worst-case scenario. They had already established a base in Nishinomiyako, their ground forces had already departed for the capital Amanoki, and twenty gunboats were also dispatched to serve as support. Things were already in motion; nothing could be taken back now. The emperor was very interested in this invasion; even if they faced a strong enemy, he would forgive neither retreat nor defeat.
Cius suddenly remembered the oversight armyâs report and the laughter that came with it, and his imagination began to go wild.
Dragon knight squadron leader Baross saw the disaster beneath him and was speechless. The dragon carriers all spontaneously explodedâthat was the only possibility that came to mind. He decided to have his squad of twelve dragon knights land back at Nishinomiyako.
âUnidentified objects at the front!!! Theyâre coming right for us!!!â yelled his subordinate with the best eyes.
Baross squinted his eyes. âWhat is that?!â
Something that looked like an arrow was coming towards them. It looked like it would pass them by.\nBOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Behind him, big bursts of black smoke appeared.
Eight of the dragon riders in his elite squadron were shred into pieces, falling out of the sky.
He saw two things in front of them.
âTheyâre⌠quick!!!â
They passed by them high in the sky, so fast they didnât even have time to think, and only after they were already gone did the sound come. Two red flames came out the rear ends.
âTheyâre too fast!!!â
The rest of the squadron chased after the objects, trying to identify what they were. They could not catch up at all.
âErg!!! What the hell!!! Are those!!!â
The objects suddenly ascended at a speed they couldnât believe, vanishing into the sky. The destructive sky gods promptly turned and pointed back at them, rapidly returning to their position.
â! They fired something!!! Maybe a fire blast?!â
The squadron moved to evade it. One of the F-15J Kaisâ Type 04 AAM-5s struck the wyvern lord that Baross was riding. He and his men had run out of time to actâthey were all hit by air-to-air missiles, blowing them out of the sky.
Japan, Yamaguchi prefecture, prisoner-of-war camp
When they decided to go to war with the Papaldia Empire, a prison was converted into a war camp, which was where imperial oversight army eastern fleet Special Class A Dragon Knight Reckmeyer was sent. He was currently sitting with a Japanese newspaper in one hand and a Japanese-Common Fillades dictionary in the other. He was reading the news one word at a time. The more he read, the more his fingers became wet with sweat. Eventually, his entire body was covered in cold sweat and his fingers were trembling.
This was the article he was reading:
Papaldia Kills Japanese Tourists!! Japanese Govât: âWe Absolutely Cannot Forgive This!!â Govât Orders Entire JSDF to Remove Papaldia Army from Fenn!!
After the Papaldia Empireâs massacre of Japanese tourists in the Kingdom of Fenn, the Japanese government has ordered the JSDF to eliminate all of Papaldiaâs armed forces in Fenn. When our reporter asked about the possibility of battle, the strong response we received was âThere will be no further Japanese victims. We wonât allow it. Thatâs why weâre taking military action!!â In other words, if the Papaldia Empire does not yield, the chances of combat are very high. This is the first order for real military action in 70 years, since the establishment of the JSDF. The government has vowed that there will be no more casualties among the Japanese citizens still trapped in Fenn.
âThey⌠theyâve gone and done it nowâŚâ
His homeland had finally tried to push their usual intimidation diplomacy. Because the foreign affairs departments were too large, reports to superiors were often simplified or twisted to fit someoneâs agenda. They normally would have already been aware of the danger Japan posed, but their hubris and indolence as a superpower probably resulted in that information never being communicated properly. A war with Japan was simply unavoidable now.
\nFollowing their next march, the Papaldian ground legion arrived at the Coate Plains.
The JGSDF civilian rescue brigade 1st battalion leader, Lieutenant Colonel Amano, was analyzing a report he received from one of his men. The imperial armyâs ground forces had arrived at the Coate Plains, and there were no residences in the vicinity, so it was the optimal time to attack them. However, if they launched an attack now, the next battalion wouldnât make it in time for the battle. In addition, while they did know the enemyâs current position, there were villages in the area, so they couldnât bomb them. Aside from their assortment of vehicles and mobile weaponry, they also had access to three AH-64D Apache helicopters they could borrow from the Maritime SDFâs helicopter carrier.
âWeâre going to attack the enemy at the Coate Plains! If possible, request air support from the Air SDF, but keep in mind that it could turn into a free-for-all!â
On the Coate Plains, a battle was about to begin to determine the fate of the civilians in the Kingdom of Fenn
Papaldia Empire, imperial capital Esthirant, Second Civilization Superpower, Mu embassy
Nisol, a staff member from the 1st foreign affairs department, was visiting the Mu embassy to speak with Muâs Ambassador, Mugei.
âAnd what exactly did you need to discuss so urgently today?â Mugei asked Nisol.
âThe Papaldia Empire has entered into hostilities with the Kingdom of Fenn, as I believe you are aware. There is also a possibility of the country of Japan joining the conflict.â
âYes, I was aware of that. I have also heard that the empire massacred two hundred Japanese citizens who were visiting Fenn for leisure. My country is watching this conflict closely and with great interest.â
âYes, that is correct. We would like to inquire about a rumor that Mu sent an observer to Japan.â
âWe did send an observer to Japan, this is the truth.â
Even though he had heard the report beforehand, Nisol was still shocked to hear it come straight from the ambassadorâs mouth.
Nisol took a breath. âI would ask if you could share the reason, if possible.â
âI am not a military expert, so I am unclear on the specifics, but this decision came from our military. I believe they made the appropriate considerations when coming to that decision.â
âIn all cases in the past, your country has only ever sent an observer to the victorâs side. Is the fact that you chose to send an observer to Japan this time because your analysis has concluded that the empire will lose?â
âIâm afraid thatâs confidential information and I am not allowed to speak about it. However, I would like to stress that Mu does not see the Papaldia Empire as an enemy. We hope you understand that.â
âOne more thing, and this is not as an ambassador, but just a personal comment; is that acceptable?â
âIf Iâm not mistaken, the Papaldia Empire has researched Japan and concluded that, after killing those tourists, you would be able to shrug off Japanâs wrath and emerge victorious; I believe that is how my country would have simulated your thought process. However, based on our own analysis, if Mu were in your shoes⌠we do not believe that to be the case for us. Mu has judged that it does not have sufficient national power to be hostile with Japan. I apologize for repeating myself so many times, but this is not a formal message from Mu, it is simply my personal opinion. I would simply like to pay tribute to the valor of your country.â
Nisol felt his back break out into a cold sweat. After the impromptu meeting ended, he immediately returned to his office and began writing an emergency research report.